Ryan Wyngarden sentenced to life in prison for 1987 killings of sister, her husband

Monday

Apr 21, 2014 at 4:29 PMApr 21, 2014 at 4:29 PM

By Jim.Hayden@hollandsentinel.com(616) 546-4274

Convicted murderer Ryan Wyngarden talked for almost an hour, proclaiming his innocence at least a dozen times and belittling the prosecutors, detectives and judge throughout his sentencing at Ottawa County Circuit Court in Grand Haven on Monday morning.When Judge Jon Hulsing began to speak, Wyngarden continued talking, just as he had done during the three-week trial.“I did not interrupt you, sir. Now it’s my turn,” Hulsing said, though Wyngarden continued to murmur and once cursed to the judge.“Do I have to bind and gag you? I’ll have deputies duct tape your mouth,” Hulsing pointedly told him.Hulsing sentenced Wyngarden to the state required life in prison without parole for the execution-style murder of Gail and Rick Brink in their Park Township home 26 years ago.“You are a brutal, cold-blooded murderer,” the judge said. Both victims were shot in the head.A jury convicted Wyngarden on March 28 on two counts of first-degree premeditated murder for the Nov. 21, 1987, shooting deaths of his sister Gail and her husband. The prosecution said Wyngarden killed the couple because he was jealous of the pair and didn’t want it known that he had sex with his sister Gail.Budd Brink, brother of Rick, thanked the court and detectives on Monday for the “unrelenting investigative process” that solved the cold case killings.“For over 25 years, we’ve looked over our shoulders wondering who committed this crime,” Brink told the judge.Brink said the punishment will not bring Rick back and will not reform Wyngarden, but it will keep him from committing more crimes.“This is not the work of the Lord,” Brink said, quoting the minister from Gail and Rick’s funeral in 1987. “It is the work of the devil.”Wyngarden defended his alibi, saying detectives at the time of the killings failed to interview the people who could confirm his whereabouts the night of the crime. He also said police manipulated his wife, Pam, changing her memories.Pam Wyngarden’s testimony was key to her husband’s conviction.Ryan Wyngarden’s confession immediately after the murders to his then-girlfriend Pam Maracchini in Holland was the key to the case. Ryan and Pam later married and were still married at the time of the trial. Pam has since filed for divorce.Pam said she could no longer keep the confession secret after more than two decades and opened up to detectives.Several times during his rambling, often disjointed talk before the judge, Ryan Wyngarden turned to God, at one point looking up and saying, “Lord, why are you doing this to me? I’m a good man. Why? Why is this happening?”He called the cold case detectives Dave Blakely and Venus Repper “the goon squad,” Hulsing “the unjust judge” and prosecutors Lee Fisher and Doug Mesman “scandalous.”Hulsing called Wyngarden a “very controlling individual,” noting Wyngarden’s verbal battles with attorneys and the judge himself while on the stand during the three-week trial.Because he could not control his sister, Wyngarden killed her, the judge said.— Follow Jim Hayden on Twitter@SentinelJim.

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